Weekend Box Office Report: R-rated Rules the Weekend

When ‘Prometheus‘ opened big last month, there was the usual “Ah, so R-rated movies can perform well at the box office!” discussion that tends to happen every year or so. Well, that has nothing on this weekend, which found two R-rated movies topping the box office. And it’s not like ‘Ted‘ and ‘Magic Mike‘ just did okay either…both films opened big, blowing away expectations and leading the charge in one of the most interesting box office weekends of the summer so far.

‘Ted’ is the debut film from Seth MacFarlane, a man who, through the power of ‘Family Guy’ and ‘American Dad,’ took over television and made himself a zillionaire in the process. Considering ‘Ted’s $54 million opening, he may soon have to weep, for there are no more worlds left to conquer. Taking advantage of a weekend recently vacated by the troubled ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation,’ MacFarlane’s foul-mouthed comedy about Mark Wahlberg and his talking teddy bear won the weekend the old fashioned way: funny trailers and good reviews. With his shows practically on autopilot by this point, expect to see MacFarlane plunge headfirst into the moviemaking game with one big hit already under his belt.

‘Magic Mike’s second place, $39 million gross is another reminder that yes, women go to the movies, too. A year ago, there was talk about why a respected auteur like Steven Soderbergh would “waste his time” with a movie about male strippers. Now, here we are: ‘Magic Mike’ has great reviews and a massive opening weekend on top of a tiny budget. Give the boys their Batman and their Iron Man, Hollywood, but just remember that sometimes, ladies want them some naked Channing Tatum.

It wasn’t just adult fare that did well over the weekend, though. Pixar’s ‘Brave’ held on tight for a strong second weekend, taking in another $34 million for a total of $131 million. At this rate, $250 million is probably inevitable, but whether or not it’ll hit the magical $300 million is a big question mark. In any case, ‘Brave’s gross has done an admirable job of putting DreamWorks in their place. Although ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’ $180 million is very nice, ‘Brave’ is going to blow past it very soon. Viva la Pixar, we suppose.

Tyler Perry has built himself a reliable brand at this point, so ‘Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection’ opening to $26 million is expected. It’s pretty simple, actually: if it has “Madea” in the title, it’ll open in the $20-30 million range and if it doesn’t, somewhere in the $10-15 range. Tyler Perry films play to Tyler Perry’s audience…the same audience that made ‘Think Like a Man’ one of the surprise hits of 2012, if you want to get specific. Hollywood often forgets that black people, like women, enjoy movies, too.

The rest of the top ten is business as usual. ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’ continued its quick trek to a “Meh” gross by taking in $6 million for a $29 million gross. ‘Prometheus,’ now near the end of its run, made $4 million, bringing it to a $118 million total. ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ took in another $4 million, which brings its total to $145 million. A minor victory, but a victory nonetheless.

This was a terrific weekend for the indie scene, as well. ‘Moonrise Kingdom’ dug further entrenched itself in the top ten, grossing just under $5 million for a total of $18 million. At this rate, Wes Anderson’s wonderful comedy has the potential to become his most successful film yet. Outside of the top ten, the critically acclaimed ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ made $220,000 from just four theaters, Woody Allen’s ‘To Rome With Love’ made $750,000 (bringing it to $1.2 million ) and ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ continued to be the surprise hit of the summer, officially crossing the $40 million mark.

And while it didn’t happen over the weekend, it would be wrong to not bring up one of the most important box office moments of 2012: ‘The Avengers’ crossed the $600 million mark last week, making it only the third film in domestic history to do so. Marvel is on top of the world, ma.

Next week, Oliver Stone returns with ‘Savages’ and ‘Katy Perry: Part of Me’ will do its thing. Oh, and there’s this little movie called ‘The Amazing Spider-Man.’